Hero's Welcome
by Mel1592
Summary: My first Angel fic, my idea of a missing scene after Wes's death scene in "Not Fade Away"


Title: Hero's Welcome Author: Mel Rating: G Warnings: Death, a few spoilers for "Not Fade Away" but mostly spec Feedback: Yes, feed me, feed me! Disclaimer: The characters are Joss's but I love them so much I'm borrowing them for a few minutes. Then he can have them back unharmed and I won't be making any money off this, I promise.  
  
This is my first Angel fic and my answer to the end of "Not Fade Away". The stuff about Buffy and the slayer army and Connor coming back is just my speculation, my way I'd like it to end. And I always liked the idea of Cordy and Doyle, the two other fallen heros, greeting their fellow hero after his death. And I never thought Fred's soul was consumed, either. The title was inspired by the Disney song "I Can Go The Distance from "Hercules".  
  
Hero's Welcome  
  
"I will search the world...I will face it's harms...Till I find my hero's  
welcome waiting in your arms"  
  
"Wesley..."  
  
"Hello there..."  
  
"My Wesley..."  
  
"I've missed you..."  
  
The pain was like searing fire in his midsection as he struggled for breath, each inhale and exhale feeling like yet another knife ripping into his stomach and tearing him apart, little by little. Once again, he lay dying, his life's blood slowly ebbing away from him. But he knew that unlike the time in that parking lot with his throat cut, there would be no miraculous escape this time. It was a strange déjà vu, he thought, except that this time, he was giving his life fighting alongside the same friends who had seemingly abandoned him then.  
  
He focused on the eyes gazing down at him, the soft voice whispering to him. He knew that it was a lie, that it wasn't really Fred, just Illyria pretending to be her, but still, it was comforting knowing that, in a way, she was there for him in his last moments. And, somehow, the emotion, the pain in her eyes and voice, seemed real. Perhaps, he thought, Illyria was beginning to understand the human emotions she had found so repulsive when she first came to be here. Slowly, he raised a weak arm to touch her, to feel her warmth one last time.  
  
"It's going to be okay. It won't hurt much longer and then you'll be where I am. We'll be together."  
  
He hoped that she was telling the truth, that somehow, someway, Knox and Sparrow had lied and that he would see Fred again. It just hurt to think that she might have been condemned to an eternity of nothingness, and that if he was entering another plane, another phase of life, that he would have to spend eternity alone. His mind traveled back to when she had died in his arms just weeks before. That, he knew, was when he had truly died. This physical death, this bodily death was just a formality, the passing on of the hollow shell of a man that had been left behind when Fred died that day. And now, he hoped, he would see her again and that they would be together.  
  
He thought back over his life; his less-than-happy childhood with an unappreciative father, his coming to Sunnydale, his failure with Faith, his exile to Los Angeles as a 'rogue demon hunter', his taking command of Angel Investigations when Angel had gone dark, his journey to Pylea and leading the rebel band, and his betrayal, exile and return to the group that had become his family. Everything, it seemed, had happened for a reason, and he could never have known that night he met Angel in The Bronze that their destinies would be intertwined and that one day he would give his life fighting alongside Angel. He had wanted to do good, to help people and make the world better, and in the end, he was giving up his life for that very cause.  
  
"I love you..." "I love you..."  
  
His body felt heavy now, the pain dulling and then disappearing and he could barely feel his limbs as she leaned down and kissed him, first on the mouth, then on the forehead. He remembered the last words Fred had spoken as she died in his arms. "I'm not scared...I'm not scared...I'm not scared..." and he wasn't afraid either. The sights and sounds around him dimmed and blurred, and he couldn't keep his eyes open anymore.  
  
"My love...oh, my love..."  
  
He was standing now, and his body was strong and uninjured, he realized, looking down. He still couldn't see much, though, just a lot of white. Two figures stood in front of him, one of them he recognized instantly. The other he'd never met, but had seen in pictures and in Cordy's tape from way back.  
  
Cordelia and Doyle. The other two fallen soldiers who came before.  
  
"Wesley!" Cordelia said as she gave him a hug.. "It's...It's good to see you again, although I was hoping we wouldn't get anymore of us up here this quick. Oh...This is Doyle. The real one, that is, not Lindsey."  
  
"I...I have to get back there. The alley...the fight...Angel needs me. I have to be there to help him!" He looked down, hoping he might be able to see what was happening below and finding that he could just barely make out the scene..  
  
"Angel'll do all right. He's...Angel. You don't have to worry any about him." The Irish-accented voice said. "He'll keep goin' and fight another day just like he always does. And so will Spike and Gunn and Illyria."  
  
"Yeah, never thought he'd be good for anything," Cordy said. "Spike, I mean. You weren't there yet when he paid us a visit and tortured the heck out of Angel looking for that ring. And now they're on the same side. Go figure."  
  
"Hey, is that...?" he asked, watching as a familiar figure joined the fray.  
  
"Yep" The half-demon nodded.." The boy came back even though Angel told him to run. And he's gonna be a champion, just like 'im someday, whether he knows it or not."  
  
"Look, it's Buffy!" Wes exclaimed. "She's got a whole army of slayers with her! Maybe it won't turn out so badly after all. They're winning! Most of the demons are dying or already dead now. Although Gunn doesn't look so good. He's tough though. I still think I should be down there with them."  
  
"You're through down there...Well, you never know with the Powers that Be, but for now, you're through anyway." "Besides, "Cordy picked up, "You've got someone waiting for you. Girl's been driving us crazy for weeks wanting to go back and talk to you. We'd have been happy to send her back, but you know the PTBs."  
  
Cordy moved aside, and Fred was there, running towards him. Wes's heart leapt as he ran towards her, and then they were in each others' arms, hugging and kissing. Wes gazed into he eyes, as his own teared up. Illyria had been right, he and Fred were truly together now. "But how?" he asked.  
  
"Knox and Sparrow lied," she said. "It was just...I couldn't come back. They said you were going to be joining me in a few weeks' time, and I'd see you again, and that I couldn't make Illyria leave my old body anyway. I saw you...I saw you get so sad and empty and miss me so much. I wanted to come back and visit you and let you know that it was all right, that I'd be here when you got here, but I couldn't."  
  
"It's all right...it doesn't matter now. What matters is that we're together now, and we always will be. Now, nothing can ever separate us."  
  
Wes smiled the emptiness and loneliness he'd felt dissipating in the warm, soothing radiance of Fred's embrace. No longer did his soul feel dead and cold; it was now light and joyful, free to be with the woman he loved. He knew that his death had been only the end of his troubled, unhappy existence on the physical plane, and it had also been the beginning. It was the beginning of a new happiness, a new freedom, a new eternity. And for the first time in his life, Wesley Wyndham-Price was content and complete.  
  
Fred smiled back at him, her eyes sparkling with unbridled joy and happiness. "Welcome home, soldier" she said through her tears of happiness. "Welcome home"  
  
I have often dreamed  
Of a far-off place  
Where a hero's welcome  
Will be waiting for me  
Where the crowds will cheer  
When they see my face  
And a voice keeps saying  
This is where I'm meant to be  
  
I'll be there someday  
I can go the distance  
I will find my way  
If I can be strong  
I know ev'ry mile  
Will be worth my while  
  
When I go the distance  
I'll be right where I belong  
  
Down an unknown road  
To embrace my fate  
Though that road my wander  
It will lead me to you  
And a thousand years  
Would be worth the wait  
It might take a lifetime  
But somehow I'll see it through  
  
And I won't look back  
I can go the distance  
And I'll stay on track  
No, I won't accept defeat  
It's an uphill slope  
But I won't lose hope  
Till I go the distance  
And my journey is complete  
  
But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part  
A hero's strength is measured by his heart  
Ooooooooooooooooooo  
( guitar solo )  
  
Like a shooting star  
I will go the distance  
I will search the world  
I will face its heart  
I dont care how far  
I can go the distance  
Till I find my heros welcome  
Waiting In your arms  
  
I will search the world  
I will face its harms  
Till I find mt hero's welcome Waiting in your arms 


End file.
